The X-Men
by Fangirl1a
Summary: The X-Men attend a banquet for mutants but encounter protestors who try and destroy the banqiet hall.


**Obviously I don't own anything here, it all goes to Marvel, Studio B, etc. ****So this takes place a little while after Ascension Part 2. Think of it almost like a Season 6 cause I'm bringing a lot more in later. ;)**

"Kurt! Give me back my hairbrush!" Kitty Pryde yelled as she chased Kurt down the halls of the Xavier mansion.

"You'll have to find me first!" Kurt laughed and teleported away leaving an awful smell behind him.

"What the-?" Wolverine asked as the X-Teenagers filled the halls for their regular morning routines.

"Bobby! I told you I wanted you to stop freezing the toilet water!" Jean snapped.

"Has anyone seen my boot?" Rogue asked the crowd.

"Jean, I need to ask you something," called Scott.

"Whoo! C'mon, Amara! I'm starved." Tabby said pulling Amara by the arm through the hallways.

"Well, I'm glad everything's going back to normal." Storm said to Wolverine smiling. Wolverine turned his head to the sound of a loud *Bamf* and Kurt appeared next to him.

"Hey, dude," he smiled.

"Kurt! Caught you, you fuzzy elf!" Kitty laughed ran towards him.

"Ah!" he yelled and left again. Wolverine turned a Storm "You sure that's a good thing?" he asked her.

Just a little over a week ago the X-Men had defeated Apocalypse. Since then they've been on low wraps, giving themselves time to recover. It was the biggest battle they've ever encountered but the X-Men triumphed. They had to fight some of their closet allies but they all found trust in themselves and each other. Now it was the kids first day back to school and they were all hustling to get ready.

"Everyone please make your way to the dinning room. I have an announcement." Xavier communicated telepathically to the school.

"I don't know, Professor." Scott said scratching his head "I mean, a mutant banquet?"

"I understand it's a bit sudden, Scott." Professor X turned to him. "But I believe we are ready for this. Look at it as a step forward into the world of humans and mutants living together peacefully." The X-Men were sitting in the kitchen of the mansion, no one was really eating, they were all carefully listening to the Professor.

"So this banquet is all about mutants just getting together?" asked Jean Grey.

Xavier smiled "Yes, think of it like a way to connect with other people like us."

Across the table Rogue rolled her eyes "People like us? You mean freaks?"

"I know that it may be too soon, but mutants are slowly being accepted into society. We can either embrace it, or hide from it. I suggest we don't do the latter." Charles told her.

Shouting was heard in the next room, Kitty walked in holding the newspaper "Accepted, huh?" she frowned and pointed out the window to where protestors stood at the gates chanting something that couldn't be heard through the glass.

"Kid's got a point, Charles," Wolverine grunted and crossed his arms.

Nightcrawler sighed "Professor? Are you sure we're ready?" he said. Professor Xavier looked down and then back up at his X-Men.

"Yes, Kurt," he said "I think you all are."

"Finally school's over!" Kitty said as she ran to catch up with Rogue and Kurt.

"That was brutal. You think they'd be nicer."

Giggling was heard behind them "There's some of them over there," a girls voice said and it was followed by another girl's laughter "What a bunch of freaks," she said as the group past them.

"I can't believe the Professor thinks we're actually closer to being accepted," grumbled Rogue.

"Ya! That man is out of his mind!" Kurt agreed.

"Totally! Like, sure we saved the world. As if that even seems to make a difference to anyone," Kitty crossed her arms.

A large blue bouncy ball went in their path and stopped short of Kitty's sneaker. A little boy, no older than 9 ran forward and retrieved the ball, but at the sight of the mutants the boy screamed and ran away. "Ahh! Mommy!" A woman shook her head at them disapprovingly.

"Ugh! We didn't even look at him!" Rogue said grimly.

"I dunno guys," Kitty sighed "It's like, no matter what we do, they'll still hate us. I guess we're just waiting on acceptance."

"It's gonna be a long wait," Rogue frowned.

"Hey! You there! Muties!" "Oh, great," Rogue said and turned around to see Drew, the mutant-hating punk from their school. He's picked a fight with most of them in the past. (Stuff of Villains, Operation Rebirth).

Drew smiled a cruel and dopey smile "Where do you think you're going?"

"Home, what does it look like?" Kitty raised an eyebrow.

"This is my street, losers! And Mutie or not you've gotta pay up to past by here. 20 bucks freaks." Drew held out his hand to the trio.

"Twenty dollars?" Kurt cried.

"That's like, insane!" Kitty huffed.

The big bellied bully crossed his arms "You gonna do something about it?"

"Yeah, leave," Rogue said and started to walk away, Kurt and Kitty not far behind. Drew ran in front and blocked them.

"You're not passing without pay, skunk head!"

Rogue took a step towards him. "Listen you big stupid lug! I-"

"As much as I'd love to stick around, we need to get home." Kurt interrupted putting his hand on Rogue's shoulder and grinning "How about we just drop out?"

"Yeah? I'd like to see you try," challenged Drew. Kurt put his other hand on Kitty's arm "See you tomorrow!" With that Kurt had teleported away taking the girls with him.

Drew took a step back "Woah! Wha-?"

They arrived with a bamf in the foyer of the institute. "I could've handled that jerk, y'know," Rogue told Kurt.

"I know but it's all bad enough already," he said looking at his feet.

Kitty nodded "Kurt's right, Rogue. It's not like we need another reason for everyone to hate us."

Rogue rolled her eyes "What do I care if-"

"Hey, what's going on here?" Scott asked as he entered the room.

Rogue sighed "Nothing," she said "I'm going upstairs."

Cyclops scratched his head, puzzled. "What was that all about?"

Kitty frowned and looked up at Scott solemnly "Scott, do you ever think we'll like, ever actually be accepted into society? For who we are?"

Kurt reached down and turned off his watch, revealing his true blue self.

"For everything we are?" he asked.

The X-Men hustled into the banquet hall. Large circular tables were spread with groups of mutants sitting around them. Some mutants looked normal but others had more odd appearances. A large ice sculpture of a mermaid sat in the middle of the room.

"Do you see that ice sculpture? I could do way better than that!" Bobby bragged pointing to the mermaid.

"Yeah, right," Jubilee scoffed.

Rogue rolled her eyes "I so do not want to be here," she said.

"Come on, Rogue. Look, it's not that bad," Jean smiled reassuringly.

"Spoke too soon," scowled Scott and glanced over at the table filled with Avalanche, Quicksilver, Blob, Toad and Scarlet Witch.

Kitty hit her head with her hand. "Aw, man! What's the Brotherhood doing here?"

"And the Acolytes over there!" Kurt pointed to another table closer to the stage area with Gambit, Pyro and Colossus.

"Is anyone else sensing trouble already?" Amara sighed.

"It's fine. Just stay positive…and avoid eye-contact," Jean advised.

"Won't be hard. Those Brotherhood boys aren't much to look at," Tabitha sneered and looked away.

Toad stuck his long tongue out and caught a fly he'd been eyeing. Pietro and Wanda both gave him a disgusted glance.

"Yuk! No kidding." Jubilee said scrunching her nose.

"Those Acolytes aren't bad though," Tabby said cocking an eyebrow "Look at that guy in the-"

"There's our table, X-Men. C'mon," Scott led them to the a table by the window.

"This is stupid! Why are we dressed up?" Rogue said pulling up one of her long white gloves.

Kurt nodded as he sat next to her. "Seriously! My suit just isn't fitting right," he said fiddling with his tie.

Tabitha shrugged "It's a banquet, Blue! It's part of life."

"What experience do you have with fancy events, Tabby?" Scott raised an eyebrow behind his shades.

"Hey! I hear that tone of voice, Summers!" Tabitha snapped at him. Scot raised his hands up defensively.

"Kurt? What's with the getup?" Kitty nudged the elf's arm.

"Kitty, we just went over this. It's too small!" Kurt tugged on his sleeves.

Kitty reached down and picked up his wrist "No, the watch. This is a mutant banquet," she said "We can all be ourselves here, no?"

Kurt paused and looked down at his watch "No," he mumbled pulling from her grasp.

"Ahem!" A voice called through the microphone and a young woman dressed in white stood at the podium. Everyone in the room quieted down.

"Thank you, all. My name is Emma Frost, welcome to the event," the woman said. "As you all know, mutants and humans have lived un-peacefully for a long time. But due to recent events, we've decided maybe it was time to bring all mutants alike to celebrate our differences."

"Hey there," Gambit grinned and strode up to X-Men's table. "You X-Men out for a nice night of fun?"

"Yeah, I so don't think so!" Rogue said looking the other way.

Gambit tilted his head "Hey, now. Calm down cheré. Simply wondering wh-"

"What are you doing here?" Lance marched over to the X-Men's table.

"What do you mean?" Kitty stood up to face him "This happens to be a banquet for all mutants, you know!"

Lance laughed "Please, this whole thing is a hoax."

Scott stood too "You'd better go back to your table, Alvers! Or there's gonna be some-"

"Excuse me," Emma called over to the cluster of bickering mutants.

Kitty sat down and crossed her arms. "Sit back down, Lance," she said quietly and he and Gambit left for their respective tables.

"As I was saying," continued Emma. "Even though we may be higher up on the evolution scale then they are does not give them to right to make us feel superior. I believe we mutants must take charge and make a change. Do we really want to be victims the rest of our lives?"

"Excuse me, Emma," said a purple haired girl sitting behind her.

Emma Frost looked over her shoulder "Do you have something to say, Betsy?"

"Yes, in fact I do."

Frost paused and pursed her lips "Very well," she said coldly. "Elizabeth Braddock everyone."

Elizabeth stood from her seat and walked to the microphone. "Hello everyone," she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "My name is Betsy Braddock, sometimes known as Psylocke. "I'd just like to point out that this is a banquet not a rebellion gathering. Here is where we celebrate out differences and not try and pick a fight. Right, Emma?"

"Ha! What does she know?" Lance laughed and then looked out the window. "Huh? Not pick a fight, eh? Tell them that!"

Everyone looked outside to where a crowd of protestors were forming outside. "Down with mutants! Down with mutants!" The group chanted on and on, they had signs everywhere.

"Oh, no!" Betsy cried and sat back down, not noticing the small smile of Emma's lips.

"Lance!" Kitty shouted and got up from her seat.

"They're getting pretty destructive!" cried Amara.

"They're going to beat down the door!" Scott gasped.

A sudden shake rippled throughout the building. Everyone took cover under tables. The protestors were hitting down the wooden columns supporting the banquet hall.

"They're trying to knock the whole building!" Rogue yelled from under a table.

"No! The hall is on a hill! It'll fall on them!" Betsy said.

Todd leaped out from under his table "Heh! Good riddance," he said.

"Come on, we've got to help them," Scott ran to the door.

"Yeah, have fun with that Summers," Lance smirked.

"Like I'm gonna waste any of my time over some lousy group of humans, yo!" Toad frowned and ate another fly out of the air.

"Yeah, been there done that," Pietro huffed "You try to help them and all they do is steal back their money and furniture."

Emma, Psylocke and the X-Men ran outside to address the crowd. "What is it you people want?" Emma shouted at them.

"You mutants are a menace," yelled a bald man "How do we know you aren't banning together today to destroy us all?"

"Please, Stop hitting the building!" Betsy begged.

A woman gave her a nasty look. "What if you're hiding weapons in there?"

"Why do people always think that _mutants_ need weapons?" Rogue whispered to Kitty.

"Please, you don't understand," Jean stressed "If you continue the building will-"

"Enough! We understand just fine," the bald man shouted.

"Down with mutants! Down with mutants!" they chanted and used some sort of battering ram to give the banquet hall a final blow. The building quickly began to crumble but instead of caving in it started to tilt forward.

The protestors took a double-take. "It's coming forwards!" cried a man.

"Now they listen!" Rogue called while backing away from the cave-in zone.

"Let's go X-Men!" Cyclops shouted.

"Woah, we gotta get out of here!" Pietro gulped and dashed out full speed.

"Pietro!" Wanda yelled stopping him in his tracks.

"Oh, sorry sis!" Quicksilver said picking up his twin and running out with her.

"What? Pietro!" Wanda yelled louder, he put her down. They were about a block away from the hall. "We can't just leave!" she told him.

Quicksilver put his hands on his hips "Why not? What did they ever do for us?"

The Scarlet Witch crossed her arms, but said nothing.

"Ahhh!" screamed a woman as a piece of rubble came down towards her.

"Hold on!" Kurt called and teleported to her. He appeared and took hold of the woman and transported her to safety. When they appeared away from the chaos the woman pushed him away and ran off screeching.

"Your welcome," Kurt called after her.

Meanwhile Shadowcat was running around fazing everyone through falling pieces of the building. She spotted a large piece about to land on an old man. Kitty ran over as fast as she could and grabbed onto his jacket and fazed him through the rubble.

"Thank you. W-why did you save me?" asked the old man.

Kitty looked at him with a straight face and sighed. "Not all mutants hate humans, sir."

"Over there Jean! Half the building is coming down on them!" Cyclops called to his telepathic girlfriend.

Jean Grey put her fingers to her temples and stopped the falling banquet hall. "I can't hold it Scott!" she cried.

"Iceman, help her out!" shouted Cyclops as he started blasting the rubble Jean was holding and lightening the weight.

"I'm kind of busy here," grunted Bobby who was trying to replace the columns with his own made of ice.

Suddenly, as if in a blink, all the people about to be crushed under the building were gone. They were on the other end of the street.

"What just happened?" Scott asked dumbfounded. "What was that?"

Jean slowly brought the rubble to the ground just as Quicksilver ran back. "Hey X-men, we thought you might need some extra help," he smirked.

The Brotherhood and Acolytes were actually helping to save the mutant-haters. With their help the X-Men quickly averted the crowd from the damage, just as the police showed up and arrested half of them.

"Thank you for staying and helping out," Psylocke said to the X-Men. "Obviously we aren't quite ready to show the world who we are."

"Not yet," Cyclops told her. "But someday we will be."

"I hope that day comes sooner than later," frowned Betsy.

"Who are we kidding?" Emma Frost scowled "People will never like us."

"We can never get everyone to accept us," Jean said as her and Kitty came up behind them.

"Yeah, but we just need to show as many people as possible that we aren't here to hurt them," Kitty smiled.

Scott gave them a proud smile "Exactly, Kitty. That's what we do. That's why we're The X-Men."


End file.
